


Eternal

by incensuous



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 17:05:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15689697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incensuous/pseuds/incensuous
Summary: 9S tells her, “Thank you for talking with me, 2B. Truly.”2B can feel her facade crack as her lip trembles for a second. 9S does not notice.“Is it time for you to kill me now?”Their cycle goes on for an eternity.





	Eternal

**Author's Note:**

> i never played the game don't @ me  
> This is slightly out of my comfort zone, so I'd really love any and all feedback/comments, etc. Thanks for reading.

When he opens his eyes, 9S is greeted with the sight of an immaculate beach. The reflective sand particles glitter under Helios himself. The waves leisurely roll in, lapping at the shore beneath him.

He tries to remember the last time he had visited a beach as fine, but he can’t recall.

Panic floods his senses as he abruptly realizes his arms and legs are chained, holding him to a massive crag, overlooking the vast ocean.

9S cannot fathom his situation. He can't even summon any of his power—the chains appear to have an effect on him, draining him of his strength.

He wants to call out into the clear skies, bellow loud enough for Yorha Almighty himself to hear his pleas, _Why am I trapped? For what purpose am I here?_

He attempts to think what happened before he’d woken up and ended here—

_Flames!_

The image of the element comes to him, the tongues of fire flickering brightly, yet he does not understand why it is in his memories.

He is a god, he curses. When do _gods_ lose their memories?

Gods have done that and worse to the mortals, yet he’d never heard of Yorha punishing any of his siblings in such a manner. Oh, 9S knew he often deserved punishment for all his curiosity and tricks he played on Yorha.

He surmises being tied to a rock was quite the tame punishment, given The Almighty’s temperament.

His thoughts are cut short when he hears movement in the ocean below him. Likely a sea animal, he presumes. His curiosity—his vice and his virtue—is piqued which distracts him from his current situation.

His interest is well-rewarded; instead of a common dolphin or whale, a water nymph explodes out of the waves and projects herself on top of his very rock. The nymph looks magnificent under the sun, and 9S internally chides the fact it appears Apollo hasn’t chased after her… yet.

She is beautiful, even he could tell. Likely her beauty could rival even Athena or Aphrodite herself, though none of his siblings and their pride would be pleased.

While he obliviously admires her from his position, she abruptly takes notice of the chained Titan.

The nymph turns then, her bright blue eyes piercing into him. She tells him she is called 2B and tilts her head in greeting, respectful due to her lower status. 9S finds this notion laughable; the only godly thing about him left is his immortality. He holds no more worth than the very rock he is trapped to.

She insists he is still a venerated god, beloved by mankind. They still speak of your name with adulations abound, she tells him. He wants to believe her.

He notes 2B is an interesting deity; she deflects any questions he has on how he came to be chained to a rock on the shores of, she later reveals, Caucasus. She claims she does not know much of the higher gods and their ongoings. She simply follows Poseidon’s orders, which often included guarding the oceans—such was her task today.

9S queries, “So, will you be staying here for a while then?”

She nods.

“Will you keep me company then?”

2B looks over at him. “I suppose so.” He does not notice her eyes soften.

He tells her of the things he’s learned of the humans, all their inventions and machinery, arts and civilization. He’s completely enamored. 2B listens to every word, even if she never speaks one in turn.

“They’re fascinating, don’t you think, 2B?” he asks.

She murmurs, “Yes.”

By noon, he offers she call him Nines; it’s his nickname after all. He does not tell her he can’t remember if anyone’s even called him that before.

“9S is fine,” she replies.

“Oh,” is all he can say.

Other gods, more proud and arrogant than he, would have taken her reply as an offense and 2B ponders she likely would have been punished by now had it been any god but the gentle, well-meaning 9S.

He soldiers on, “Well, I likely have some time left on this rock… so, how long do you think it will take before you call me Nines?”

She does not answer the question. Instead, she tells him, “Your voice… is very comforting.”

9S does not know how to take the compliment, but he does observe he feels suddenly warm. Unsure how to respond, he settles for, “Oh… thank you.”

Before long, 9S realizes Helios has made his journey across the sky and hangs low in the horizon, preparing for his slumber.

9S tells her, “Thank you for talking with me, 2B. Truly.”

2B can feel her facade crack as her lip trembles for a second. 9S does not notice.

“Is it time for you to kill me now?”

And 2B crumbles.

“Yes.” This time, it’s her turn to be curious. “How long did you know?”

“Perhaps around mid-day,” he responds in a low voice. His eyes bore into her, piercing her soul, and it takes all of her immortal strength to keep from letting the guilt overwhelm her. “I knew Yorha would not give so simple a punishment as being tied to a rock.”

There is no hate in his eyes as he stares at her, so tenderly 2B feels her own vision blur.

“Truthfully, I do not know why he also steals my memory. He’s never done this with other gods. In fact, it seems more a blessing than a curse…”

2B looks away from him. Understanding dawns on 9S as he watches her reaction.

“So, _you’re_ the one who has been wiping my memories,” he states. “Ignorance is bliss, is it?”

She nods.

“In your curiosity and kindness, you gave humans the gift of fire. Your retribution was to be chained to this rock and every day, you would have your heart taken from you. Yorha sent me to be your punisher. That was my duty,” she confesses. “He told me to wipe your memory of your crime, but I was the one who decided to take your memories… of your punishment.

“The first few years were fine,” she continued. “But when decades turned to centuries, you could not bear not exploring the world. That was your real torture. Some days, it felt like you were losing your mind. Yorha would not relent his punishment. So, the only thing I could do,” she pauses, looking at her hands, “was to take your memory along with your life.”

2B raises her head to face 9S. “I do not deserve your forgiveness, but... I am sorry.”

Tears stream down his face. His traitorous curiosity toys him again and he has so many questions he wants to ask. But he senses his time is near, so he must act quick. “I still love you, 2B,” he declares and it is true because he _knows_ , and 2B can feel her walls come crashing down.

_I love you, 2B…_

_You already know I love you, don’t you?_

_2B, I will always love you…_

“And… you must love me. Yorha would send you to Tartarus if he found out what you’ve done.” His voice cracks but he continues, “To make me forget you and all our memories together… to make you kill me again and again… Yorha has pulled you into the punishment with me. I’m the one who is sorry.”

He yearns for these lost memories: ones where he’s talking with 2B, ones where he’s being killed by 2B, ones where he does nothing but exist with her. He thinks about how heavy a burden 2B has to bear, how many memories she’s had to hold onto all on her own, how much of herself she gives and loses to him every day.

A tear rolls down 2B’s cheek. She murmurs haltingly, “I have to kill you, every day. And meet you for the first time, thousands of times. And you love me again, every time. I don’t deserve it, and I tried not to but… I will always love you back.”

9S’ hands ache to be free, if only to hold her face between them, to tell her how much he loves her through touch, in ways he couldn’t express with words.

Instead, it is 2B who reaches out for him, and presses her lips against his. He melts, frame magnetized to her, in an old, familiar way he’ll never quite understand.

The hand ripping open his chest is a cold, dizzying shock. He cries out, but her hands do not relent. They never do.

His vision is hazy, but he concentrates on her face, feeling her fingers wrap around his beating heart, squeezing tighter and tighter. His breath comes out in ragged, pained pants as his arms weakly pull against his chains.

There is a sad grace in the way 2B tears out his heart.

* * *

When he opens his eyes, 9S is greeted with the sight of an immaculate beach. The reflective sand particles glitter under Helios himself. The waves leisurely roll in, lapping at the shore beneath him.

He tries to remember the last time he had visited a beach as fine, but he can’t recall.


End file.
